This is not how we do things in America. It is how things are done in dictatorships. Clearly, Trump doesn’t understand or care about the difference.

The Department of Homeland Security has been trying to unmask the identities of the people behind an anonymous Twitter account that has been critical of Donald Trump.

In March, DHS summoned Twitter to unmask the user or users of @ALT_USCIS. @ALT_USCIS is one of many alt-government accounts that popped up after Trump won the presidency. This account is run by people who say they are employees of the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services. And they have used Twitter to express their dissent and concerns over Trump’s words and actions.

The Trump administration doesn’t care that free speech is protected under the Constitution. They’re just concerned with shutting down any dissent. They are also likely concerned with getting retribution.

But Twitter is protecting their users and refuses to be bullied. And now they have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration.

“The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California, alleges that the DHS tried to use a “limited-purpose investigatory tool” to find out who is behind the account in question, which has been critical of the immigration policy of the current administration. “The rights of free speech afforded to Twitter’s users and Twitter itself under the U.S. Constitution include a right to disseminate such anonymous or pseudonymous free speech,” the lawsuit argues.”

Twitter says that complying with the government summons would have a “chilling effect on free speech, and effectively threaten other anonymous or pseudonymous anti-Trump accounts.”

On Thursday, the ACLU announced that they, too, will be going to court to protect the identity of @ALT_USCIS.

We're glad Twitter is pushing back. We'll be going to court to defend this user's right to anonymous speech. https://t.co/tqj5XrNvgn